Sheriff looks to sell boat to counteract previous wasteful spending

Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter looks over a boat Thursday that his predecessor bought. Larpenter says there is no need for the boat and it will be sold.

Abby Tabor/Staff

Xerxes A. WilsonStaff Writer

Published: Thursday, July 12, 2012 at 10:14 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, July 12, 2012 at 10:14 p.m.

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office will be selling and shifting some of the more costly purchases made under former Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois.

Sheriff Jerry Larpenter recently took control of the office and said Thursday he plans decrease the office's fleet of unmarked vehicles and try to shore up the office's finances.

During the last months of Bourgeois' term, the office was forced to borrow money to pay for operations. When Bourgeois left office, Larpenter, who was sheriff for 22 years before, had built up a $9 million surplus.

“Nothing was a surprise to me coming back except some of the finances,” Larpenter said.

Larpenter has railed against what he called wasteful spending by Bourgeois with the crown jewel of the complaint being a massive fiberglass boat purchased for more than $300,000 during Bourgeois' term.

“This is a big, pretty boat, but it's really a fishing boat,” Larpenter said before a luncheon he hosted for his Sheriff's Office employees at the office motor pool.

Bourgeois could not be reached for comment.

The 38-foot late-model Fountain boat is powered by three Mercury 300 horsepower motors and comes complete with a cabin nestled inside its shining blue hull.

“This is really not something we can use with our operations here. It's a pleasure craft,” Larpenter said.

The boat was initially to be used in drug trafficking patrols, but Larpenter said Narcotics and Water Patrol divisions said they have never used it. It has 40 hours of use, but Larpenter said he doesn't know how it has been used.

Larpenter noted all of the Sheriff's Office's other boats are aluminum, adding the fiberglass boat isn't really feasible for everyday operation. He estimated the craft would likely cost about $800 to $1,000 a day to operate.

The purchase of the boat also necessitated a new heavy-duty truck to pull it, Larpenter said.

“I don't know any other public official who has purchased something like this,” Larpenter said. “Hopefully we can recoup some of this money for the general fund.”

Larpenter said he is going to advertise the boat in The Courier, take bids on the craft and put the proceeds in the office's general fund.

The boat isn't especially viewed outside the Sheriff's Office as a good investment.

“I can't think of a worse way that kind of money could have been spent,” Christa Falgout of Houma said in a posting on Facebook.

On Thursday, the boat sat beside a fleet of unmarked police vehicles Larpenter said are surplus to the office's operation. He is looking to either sell or trade some of them for new patrol cars.

The 40 or so vehicles consisted mostly of unmarked Ford Expeditions. Larpenter said he is going to use some of the vehicles to replace aging patrol vehicles.

“There was a lot of equipment purchased that just wasn't necessary,” Larpenter said.

Larpenter also said he wants to reduce the number of people driving Sheriff's Office vehicles to save money on insurance and liability.

The sheriff seemed to take special offense from the number of vehicles assigned to Bourgeois, who drew attention for driving around a blue Maserati confiscated from an alleged drug dealer.

Bourgeois had as many as eight vehicles assigned to him during his term, Larpenter claimed. He said this is abnormal for any sheriff. He said he has only one work vehicle assigned to him.

Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre only has one vehicle assigned to him, according to public information officer Brennan Matherne.

The vehicles assigned to Bourgeois included an unmarked motorcycle and a blue Hummer that Larpenter said had been needlessly purchased for more than $20,000 before having more than $20,000 in upgrades like lift kits, electronics, a paint job and tires added at the Sheriff's Office's expense.

All told, Larpenter said Bourgeois had $550,000 in vehicles at his disposal.

Larpenter said he plans to bring auditors in to document the spending of the past four years.

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